Halfway through this week already

I got a nice surprise last week when this ribbon arrived in my mail. It is for my Anne Frank piece that is in the "She Made Her Mark, Too" exhibit. It was made by Jamie Fingal and has so much more character than the usual satin ribbons that are sometimes awarded by shows. I was, in fact, surprised that this show gave awards, ribbons, prizes.

Did I say "prizes"? Yes, I also got a prize. It showed up unannounced several weeks ago. It is a wonderful little Japanese drawstring bag stuffed to the gills with rolled pieces of Japanese fabrics. I think I love the little bag even more than the fabric, though it is most welcome and will be used.

As much as I have bitched about this exhibit and competition (and my friends know that I have) I am a little humbled by such largesse.

Over the past couple of years my graphic design business has declined, intentionally on my part. I have not taken on any new clients and those I had have moved away or I have finished their projects or I have turned down jobs. I have been retiring a little bit at a time and thought this summer I was actually truly retired, but I got a call from a company I have worked for off and on for a number of years, doing layouts for technical manuals and materials and they had a brochure they needed, so I worked for a couple days last week and one day this week. For this particular client I work at their site as I have to coordinate with numerous people for technical drawings and text, etc. It was kind of nice to put on grownup clothes and "go to work" for a couple of days, but also nice to be finished. Retirement is hard to beat. The company is located in an area of industrial parks and buildings. You know the kind, I'm sure, where there are rows of steel buildings housing lots of small businesses you never knew existed. When I went to lunch the other day I noticed a SALE! sandwich board sitting next to the street, so I stopped to see what kind of business was having a sale. Turned out to be a company that imports furniture and accessories from Indonesia and, oh my, what wonderful things they had piled into a nondescript warehouse. I couldn't resist this big red platter. It is really heavy, and I think it looks great on my diningroom table, displaying, for now, my growing collection of "round things".

I think it doesn't pay to let me work. I seem to spend money as fast as I make it. Ray, on the other hand, is doing swell in our effort to get rid of stuff. Today he sold his drum set. I have mixed feelings. He has always had drums. He seemed very pleased to see them drive away with an earnest young drummer, and exceptionally pleased with the wad of cash he got in return.